Anticipating that a dispensary for medical marijuana might want to locate in Homer Glen now that the state has legalized the drug on a pilot basis, the plan commission debated how to restrict the siting of such a business.

"The dispensary to me, it seems like it's no different than a pharmacy," member Joseph Maska said last week, suggesting a dispensary be located near a medical center and accessible to sick people.

"I don't want to see in the shopping center, you know, 'Cheech and Chong's,'" but off the beaten path, member Jay Bradarich said.

The medical marijuana pilot program, which takes effect in January, allows qualified patients to receive 2.5 ounces of cannabis every 14 days with the authorization of a qualified medical professional. The law calls for more than 20 medical marijuana cultivation centers, one for every state police district, along with a dispensary center for each county, commission officials said. It is likely that the cultivation centers would be at dispensary centers, Bradarich said.

Dispensary centers, which can be privately owned, will sell cannabis and properly packaged baked goods, said Erin Venard, village staff liaison to the plan commission.

"It is very strict compared to most states," member Don Mitchell said.

Unlike other states, the Illinois law does not list chronic pain as a medical condition eligible for treatment, although it does list residual limb pain, officials said.

"You can make laws about them (dispensary centers), but you have to make them reasonable laws," Venard said, explaining that the village cannot prohibit the use and cultivation of medical cannabis.

Village staff recommended putting any dispensary in the I-1 industrial zoning district and making it special use, Venard said.

"My first reaction was that you were restricting it to such few places that you were essentially saying no," said member Lynn McGary.

If the village attorney thinks the village is trying to say no, then the recommendation may not be followed, Venard said.

However, a dispensary may not find Homer Glen desirable, member Tom Bernicky said, explaining that he knows someone who owns a dispensary in Ann Arbor, Mich., a college town in a state that allows medical marijuana for panic and anxiety.

Member Cindy Polke suggested the commission wait on formulating plans to see what other communities do. It will discuss the matter again, probably later this month or in September, with village attorney review likely in the interim, Venard said.

"I don't think we're that many years away from legalizing it (marijuana) completely, because we can't afford to enforce any of this," McGary said.

In other business, the plan commission voted to recommend a carryout restaurant amendment allowing the service in all commercial districts without a special permit, Venard said.

"A permitted use means you can just come in and get a building permit," which only takes about 10 days, versus 60 to 120 days as with a special use permit, Venard said.

Also, the plan commission, with Bernicky refraining, voted to recommend that the village board modify regulations on fences. Under the recommendation, the maximum fence height allowed will be six feet and residents or businesses who want to construct an 8-foot fence, for example, will have to pay $725 to request a special use.

"We're going to charge him $725 to put that fence up?" Bernicky said, describing the cost as "egregious."

The amount is to cover costs and allowing a fence that high without a public hearing was an oversight and an error, Venard said.